Security protocols for hybrid peer-to-peer file sharing networks

ABSTRACT

In a hybrid peer-to-peer file sharing network including a receiver peer and a provider peer, the receiver sends the provider a ticket [ 710 ] obtained from a server authorizing the receiver to obtain a data object O. The receiver obtains a root value of a hash tree for the object, verifies its digital signature, and sends the provider peer a request for a block of data object O and a request for a corresponding set of hash values from the hash tree [ 714 ]. The receiver receives from the provider peer the block of O and the corresponding set of hash values of the hash tree [ 716 ] that do not contain any hash value in the local hash tree. The receiver sends the provider an acknowledgement of receipt [ 718 ], obtains a block key from the provider [ 720 ], decrypts the block, verifies the integrity of the block using the subset of hash values and the local hash tree for O, and updates the local hash tree by adding the subset of hash values to the local hash tree, as well as any newly calculated hash values [ 722 ]. The provider may submit to a server the acknowledgements as proof of its service to the receiver.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/990,898 filed Jul. 31, 2008, which is a national stage filing of PCTPatent Application PCT/US2006/032951 filed Aug. 22, 2006, which claimspriority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/710,669 filed Aug.22, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to hybrid peer-to-peer datasharing networks. More specifically, it relates to efficient securityprotocols for such networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a conventional client-server network, shown in FIG. 1A, a server 100provides data to all clients 102, 104, 106. Security protocols such assecure sockets layer (SSL) are used to provide authentication and dataconfidentiality between client and server. When the number of clientsincreases, however, the bandwidth and storage demands on server 100increases proportionately, which can result in reduced performance,especially when the server is providing clients with large digital mediafiles. These problems with the client-server network paradigm havemotivated the development of peer-to-peer networks. In a peer-to-peernetwork, shown in FIG. 1B, multiple peers 108, 110, 112 share datadirectly with each other instead of obtaining it from a server. Forexample, peer 108 can provide a file to peer 110 which in turn providesthe file to peer 112. Alternatively, peer 112 could have obtained thesame file from peer 108. As the number of peers increases, the bandwidthand storage capacity of the peer-to-peer network automatically increasesas well. For these reasons, peer-to-peer file sharing networks havebecome popular ways of distributing large media files.

Most peer-to-peer networks are in fact hybrid peer-to-peer networkswhich combine features of pure peer-to-peer networks with features ofconventional client-server networks. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, apeer-to-peer network may have a server 200 and clients 202, 204, 206functioning as a conventional client-server network. At the same time,peers 202, 204, 206 function as a peer-to-peer network. Typically, thefiles are shared among peers while the server organizes and administersthe peer-to-peer network, e.g., providing a directory of available filesand peers that can share them. In some cases, the server may alsoprovide files, e.g., if no peer is available to provide it. For example,server 200 may provide peer 202 with a file, which then may be sharedwith peer 204 which in turn shares it with peer 206. Alternatively,peers 204 or 206 could have obtained the file directly from server 200.

Unlike a client-server network, the data flow in a peer-to-peer networkis not centralized at a trusted server that controls access to files andensures their confidentiality and integrity. Consequently, peer-to-peernetworks pose new security issues. For example, suppose peer 204 wantsto obtain a file from peer 202. How does peer 202 know peer 204 isauthorized to obtain it? How can data confidentiality between peers besupported? How can peer 204 be assured of the integrity of the file itobtains from peer 202? How can peer 202 prove that it delivered the fileto peer 204? Such questions are important in hybrid peer-to-peernetworks used to distribute software packages, sell large multimediafiles, share critical information among participants, and many otherapplications. In addition, any practical solution to these peer-to-peersecurity issues should not require a large processing or bandwidthoverhead.

The challenges of providing data integrity and proof-of-service in apeer-to-peer network are considerably larger than those forauthentication and confidentiality. Moreover, ensuring data integrity inpeer-to-peer networks is especially important since the integrity ofdata must be assumed for any proof-of-service to be meaningful.

The most obvious solution to providing data integrity in a peer-to-peernetwork is simply for the server to provide a digital signature of thefile. Unfortunately, if the signature verification fails, the entirefile must be retransmitted. When the file is very large, this consumes alarge amount of bandwidth and time. To address this problem, the fileobject O may be divided into a sequence of N smaller data blocks {b(1),. . . , b(N)}, and the server individually signs each block. Thissolution, however, introduces a large computational overhead since theclient must decrypt the signature of every block in order to verify theintegrity of the file.

Another technique can be used to reduce the computational demands ofverifying individual blocks. Instead of signing every block, the serversigns a single “superblock” {H(1), . . . , H(N)} that contains a strongone-way hash value H(i) for every block b(i) of the file. Beforereceiving any data blocks, the client obtains the superblock from theserver and verifies its signature. Once it has the superblock, theclient then verifies the integrity of each block it receives bycomputing a hash for the block and comparing it to the correspondinghash value in the superblock. Although this technique dramaticallyreduces the computational demands on the client, it can result in a longstartup latency because the client must receive the entire superblockbefore receiving the first block of a file. The delay would not beacceptable to applications in which users prefer prompt response, suchas multimedia streaming. Moreover, if the superblock itself iscorrupted, the retransmission can also be costly. Increasing the blocksize can reduce the size of a superblock, but the retransmission cost ofindividual blocks will increase.

One known technique to address this start-up latency problem is based onthe use of a Merkle hash tree. Given a data object O divided intoN=2^(m) blocks {b(1), . . . , b(N)}, its binary Merkle hash tree,denoted M(O), is a binary tree of 2^(m+1)−1 hash values organized intom+1 levels. FIG. 3 shows an example Merkle hash tree for a data objectwith eight blocks. Level j of the tree consists of 2^(j) hash values,denoted H(j,1), H(j,2), . . . , H(j,2 ^(j)), where H(j,i) is a hash ofthe consecutive pair of hash values H(j+1,2i−1), H(j+1,2i) at level j+1.Level 0 of the tree (its “root”) consists of a single hash value H(0,1).Level m of the tree (its “leaves”) simply consists of the 2^(m) hashvalues {H(1), . . . , H(N)} of the data blocks {b(1), . . . , b(N)}.Thus, the hash values H(m,1), H(m,2), . . . , H(m,2 ^(m)) at level m aresimply the hash values {H(1), . . . , H(N)}.

The hash tree M(O) of an object O is typically computed recursively byfirst computing hashes of the data blocks {b(1), . . . , b(N)}, thencomputing hashes of these hashes, and so on, until the root value H(0,1)is computed. For example, FIG. 3 shows hash values 314, 316, 318, 320,322, 324, 326, 328 at level 3 derived directly from corresponding datablocks 330, 332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 342, 344. Hash values 306, 308,310, 312 at level 2 are then derived by calculating hashes of pairs ofconsecutive hashes taken from the level 3 hash values. For example, hashvalue 306 is a hash of hash values 314 and 316. Similarly, hash values302 and 304 at level 1 are derived from hash values 306, 308, 310, 312at level 2, and root hash value 300 at level 0 is derived from hashvalues 302 and 304 at level 1. An important property of the hash treeM(O) is that the root hash value H(0,1) depends on the data in allblocks.

In conventional methods for data integrity verification using a Merkelhash tree, the integrity of each block of a data object O isindependently verified by the receiving client. Before receiving anydata, the client first requests a certified value of H(0,1) and verifiesthe signature. Once it receives a block b, the client requests theauthentication path of b, denoted A(b). The authentication path consistsof a sequence of m hash values, one from each level. The hash value at agiven level in the authentication path is the sibling of the hash valuealong the direct path from the hash of b upward toward the root valueH(0,1). For example, the authentication path for block b(6) in FIG. 3 isA(b(6))=<H(3,5), H(2,4), H(1,1)>. These values are then used tocalculate H(0,1) from the hash H(6) of block b(6) by moving up thelevels of the tree, combining the computed hash at each level with thesibling authentication hash at the same level to obtain the computedhash at the next level up. For example, computed hash H(6)=H(3,6) iscombined with authentication path hash H(5)=H(3,5) to obtain computedhash H(2,3) which in turn is combined with authentication path hashH(2,4) to obtain computed hash H(1,2) which finally is combined withauthentication path hash H(1,1) to obtain root hash value H(0,1). If theblock is corrupted or otherwise altered, then the calculated value ofH(0,1) will not equal the certified value of H(0,1). Thus, theauthentication path of a block and the certified hash value of the rootallows the client to verify the integrity of any block. If the integrityis not verified, the client can then request the retransmission of blockb. Using this method, a client does not have to download all the hashvalues from the entire table beforehand, nor does it need to performexpensive encryption or decryption operations. However, this solutioncan still lead to a high bandwidth overhead. For a data object with2^(m) blocks, every block's authentication path will have m hash values.Assuming each hash value is 16 bytes, the overhead traffic will then be16m*2^(m) bytes, or a fraction 16m/|b| of the data traffic, where |b| isthe number of bytes per block.

In addition to the above drawbacks with authentication, currentpeer-to-peer security protocols also suffer from problems with otheraspects of a complete security solution. For example, providingproof-of-service is important in a peer-to-peer network so that peerscan demonstrate that they provided data to another peer.Proof-of-service, however, is meaningless without a reliable dataintegrity scheme since proof-of-service presupposes that the datadelivered was not corrupted or otherwise altered. Thus, a practicalproof-of-service scheme requires a practical data integrity scheme. Inaddition, proof-of-service has its own inherent challenges. For example,it is desirable in a peer-to-peer system to allow multiple peers toprovide a receiver peer with different portions of a single file. Aproof-of-service scheme in this case might require the receiver peer tosend an acknowledgement to each provider peer for each block received.The providers, however, then send the acknowledgement for each block tothe server, resulting in a large bandwidth overhead and demand on theserver in the case of large files. There are also other challengesassociated with proof-of-service, such as ensuring that provider peerscannot forge a proof-of-service, and that receiver peers can not takedata without sending acknowledgements of receipt.

In view of the above, it would be an advance in the art to provide apractical and reliable peer-to-peer security protocol that overcomessome of the problems with current approaches.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention provides a method implemented at a receiverpeer in a peer-to-peer file sharing network. The method includesinitializing a local hash tree for a data object O using a root hashvalue of a hash tree for O. The root hash value is preferably digitallysigned by a server, and the receiver verifies the digital signature. Thereceiver may also request and receive from the server a ticketauthorizing the receiver to obtain the data object O. The receiver thenforwards the ticket to a provider peer. The receiver sends the providerpeer a request for a block of data object O and a request for acorresponding set of hash values. The corresponding set of hash valuesis a subset of the hash values of the hash tree for object O. Therequest for the set of hash values for the block simply contains thenumber of hash values, which is sufficient to allow the provider todetermine which hash values are requested for the block. The subsetpreferably does not contain any hash value in the local hash tree for Oand preferably includes a sequence of hash values from differentconsecutive levels of the hash tree. The receiver receives from theprovider peer the block of O and the corresponding set of hash values ofthe hash tree, then verifies the integrity of the block using thereceived hash values and the local hash tree for O. The verification mayinclude, for example, calculating a hash value of the block, calculatingfrom the calculated hash value of the block and the subset of hashvalues a derived hash value corresponding to an existing hash value inthe local hash tree, and comparing the derived hash value with theexisting hash value. If the integrity of the block is verified, thereceiver updates the local hash tree by adding the subset of hash valuesto the local hash tree, as well as any newly calculated hash values.

The method may also include sending to the provider peer anacknowledgement of receipt of the block, where the acknowledgement isdigitally signed by the receiver and includes a digest of the block, aprovider identifier, a receiver identifier, and an object identifier.The acknowledgement preferably includes a reference to all receivedblocks from the provider as well as digests of multiple recentlyreceived blocks. The receiver obtains a block key from the providerpeer, uses the key to decrypt the block, and verifies its digitalsignature. Preferably, the block key is derived from a provideridentifier, a receiver identifier, a block identifier, and a secretshared between the provider and its server.

In another aspect, a provider peer serves requested blocks of a dataobject to a receiver peer. The process begins when the provider receivesa ticket from the receiver. The provider confirms that it has therequested object and verifies the digital signature of the ticket. Theprovider then sends blocks of the data object to the receiver inresponse to block requests from the receiver. To help the receiver peerto verify the integrity of every block received from this provider, theprovider will also process every request for hash values, determinewhich values are requested, and provide them to the receiver peer. Ifthe provider also wants to obtain a proof that it provided specificblocks to the receiver peer in question, for each block that ittransmits, it calculates a block key, encrypts the block using the key,and transmits the encrypted block. The provider will then await anacknowledgement of receipt of the block and verify the acknowledgementbefore sending the receiver the block key and transmitting subsequentblocks.

In yet another aspect, a server in the peer-to-peer file sharing networkdigitally signs a root hash value of the data object O and sends it toone or more peers in the peer-to-peer file sharing network. The serverreceives from the receiver peer a request for the data object O andsends to the receiver peer the ticket authorizing the receiver to obtainthe data object O. After the receiver presents the ticket to a providerand obtains the data object (or a portion thereof), the server mayreceive from a provider peer a copy of an acknowledgement sent from thereceiver peer to the provider peer, which the provider uses as a proofof its service. The acknowledgement, also known as the proof thatservice was provided, is preferably digitally signed by the receiverpeer and comprises a provider identifier, a receiver identifier, anobject identifier, a specification of all blocks of data object O thatthe receiver peer received from the provider peer, and digests of mostrecent blocks of data object O transmitted from the provider peer to thereceiver peer. The server then verifies the proof and gives credit tothe provider peer if the verification is successful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic of a conventional client-server network.

FIG. 1B is a schematic of a conventional peer-to-peer network.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a hybrid peer-to-peer network combiningfeatures of the conventional client-server model with the purepeer-to-peer model according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a binary Merkle hash tree for a data objectdivided into eight data blocks.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a portion of a local hash tree showing hashvalues in the tree after a second block of data is received according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a portion of a local hash tree showing hashvalues in the tree after a third block of data is received according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6A is a diagram showing the transfer of information between aserver, a receiver peer, and a provider peer according to an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 6B is a flow chart illustrating steps of a peer-to-peer protocolaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing the transfer of information between areceiver peer and a provider peer according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7B is a flow chart illustrating steps of a peer-to-peer protocolaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a light-weight,scalable, robust, and flexible security protocol to support a suite ofsecurity functionalities for applications using the hybrid peer-to-peerparadigm. The security protocol can be implemented in a variety of ways,including a library of function calls, a middleware service,application-integrated features, operating system functions, etc. In apreferred embodiment, a set of security functionalities include: (1)client authentication to ensure that only authenticated clients canobtain a server's data, whether or not directly from the server, (2)data confidentiality to avoid data leakage to untrusted entities, (3)data integrity to detect data fabrication or modification with lowoverhead, whether the data is directly from a server or indirectly fromclients, and (4) proof-of-service to allow a client to obtain a precise,non-reputable proof that it has provided specific data-sharing serviceto another client. More security functionalities can be added if needed.Some implementations may include just one of the above functionalities,or a combination of two or more. The protocol may have aspectsimplemented on clients as well as on servers. It may be deployed in avariety of different ways to improve network performance, especially innetworks that deliver large files, e.g., audio and video files.

The protocol is compatible with digital rights management (DRM)techniques and allows economic and scalable delivery of large data filesin a commercial context that ensures data integrity and allows forproof-of-service to enable incentives. The protocol supports twodifferent access modes for a client to obtain its server's data: directaccess and indirect access. In both modes, the client first creates asecure channel between itself and the server and then authenticatesitself with the server (for instance using its account name and passwordor using an identity certificate). If in the direct access mode, theclient will then directly receive a copy of the requested data from theserver; but if in the indirect access mode, the client will obtainnecessary information from the server and then turn to other peerclients to receive the data. In direct access mode the protocol issimilar to known techniques such as SSL. Thus, the following descriptionwill focus on indirect access mode.

In the following description, a client who provides data to others iscalled a provider and a client who receives data from others is called areceiver. Clients and servers are assumed to be computing devicesconnected via a digital network. The devices may be fixed or portable,and they may be networked by wired or wireless networks. Weinterchangeably use the terms data object and file.

A security protocol according to one embodiment of the invention isshown in FIGS. 6A and 6B in which peers 602 and 604 share data withassistance from server 600. As shown in FIG. 6A, a receiver peer 604that desires to obtain a data object O begins by establishing a securedconnection with server 600 using a standard security technique such asSSL. Receiver 604 then sends authentication information, such as acertificate or username and password, to server 600. This step 610 isalso shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6B. The peer-to-peer networkinitialization preferably includes an establishment of public andprivate key pairs by participating peers, as well as the granting ofpublic key certificates. In one embodiment, the server managing thenetwork acts as a certificate authority for the certificates granted tothe peers. First, each peer generates a public and private key pairusing a standard public key generation algorithm, then sends acertificate request to the server. The server then generates acertificate that is signed with the server's private key and sends itback to the peer. As a result, every peer has its own public keycertified by the server, and every client is also able to verify thecertificate of its peers.

Once peer 604 is authenticated, receiver R sends a request to server 600in step 612. The request identifies the desired object O. The receiver Ris implicitly identified by the prior authentication but may beexplicitly identified in the request as well. Assuming the serverdecides that the client 604 is allowed to obtain the data (such as afterthe client paid for purchasing a file), in step 614 server 600 sendsreceiver 604 an object key that is required to decrypt the object O.(This step may be omitted if proof-of-service is being used, since itprovides block-by-block encryption of O.) In the direct access mode,server 600 directly serves object O to receiver 604, as shown in step622. Direct access mode may be used, for example, if no peers arewilling or able to share object O with receiver 604. If one or morepeers are able to share portions of object O, then server 600 issues anauthorization ticket to receiver 604 in step 616. The ticket, which isdigitally signed by server 600, is a verifiable proof that receiver 604is authorized by the server to access data object O, no matter where thedata object is located. The ticket typically includes a receiveridentifier ID_(R) associated with the receiver 604 requesting a dataobject, an object identifier ID_(O) associated with the data object O, atime that the ticket is issued, a validity period of the ticket, and asequence number. The server also uses its private key to sign the ticketso that any provider that knows the server's public key can verify theticket. Server 600 may also send receiver 604 a list of one or morepeers, such as peer 602, who may be able to provide some portion ofobject O. This list may be obtained from a directory maintained by theserver containing a list of peers who have previously obtained ticketsfor the same object. Thus, when the server issues the ticket to a peer,the peer is added to the server directory as a peer potentially capableof providing the object to other peers.

In step 618, receiver 604 and provider 602 establish a secure connection(e.g., SSL) and exchange certificates to confirm their identities.Receiver 604 then sends provider 602 a signed copy of the ticket.Provider 602 then verifies the signatures of the ticket to verify thatthe ticket was sent by receiver 604 and that the ticket was issued byserver 600. Assuming both signatures are verified, provider 602 sendsreceiver 604 the data object O in step 620. Typically, however, provider602 sends receiver 604 only a portion of data object O, e.g., a subsetof blocks of data object O. In this case, receiver 604 obtains theremaining portions of data object O from one or more other peers, orfrom the server 600. Since the same techniques are used to obtain datafrom any peer, without loss of generality, this description focuses onthe protocol used to obtain any portion of data object O from one peer.Similarly, the same techniques are used to share a portion of dataobject O as are used to share all of data object O. Thus, without lossof generality, this description focuses on the technique used to shareall of data object O, with the understanding that the same techniquesapply to sharing a portion of object O.

An important part of any security protocol is data confidentiality. In apreferred embodiment, provider 602 sends an encrypted version of objectO to receiver 604. The object is encrypted with a unique object-keyprovided to receiver 604 by server 600. Every data object can beassociated with an object key for encrypting or decrypting the dataobject. An object key can have a life time and be replaced when itexpires. Essentially an object-oriented approach, this scheme is able toenforce a fine-grained access control at the data object level. Usingobject keys, a server can encrypt any data object just once in advancefor all potential clients, instead of once per client. Thus, provider602 can encrypt object O itself, or provider 602 can send receiver 604 asaved copy of the encrypted version of object O that was originallyreceived from server 600. After receiver 604 obtains encrypted object O,receiver 604 can use the object key to decrypt the encrypted object torecover the original object O. Note that the distribution of the objectkey from the server 600 to receiver 604 is protected by the secureconnection established between them using conventional securitytechniques. Also note that the object key is not needed inimplementations that include proof-of-service, since block-levelencryption is used in proof-of-service, as will be described later.

Data Integrity

In a preferred embodiment, a technique for providing data integrityimproves performance of integrity verification over prior methods.Recall that existing integrity techniques based on a hash tree requiretransmission of the full authentication path which contains m hashvalues for every block. The integrity technique of the presentinvention, however, reduces this overhead significantly. Instead ofrequesting m hash values for each block b (resulting in a total of m*Nhash values for the object), a receiver in the present method requests asubset of these m hash values in the authentication path A(b), where thesubset (herein called the “integrity path”) is determined by theparticular block b. In the case of the first block only, the integritypath is equal to the authentication path A(b). However, for subsequentblocks, the integrity path is a proper subset of the authenticationpath, and often significantly smaller (resulting in a total of just Nhash values for the object, a bandwidth reduction by a factor of m).

Despite the fact that the integrity path does not include all the hashvalues from the authentication path, the receiver is nonetheless stillable to compute the root hash value using cached hash values received orcalculated earlier for previously received blocks. For example, if ahash value H is included in the authentication path A(b′) of a priorreceived block b′, then H can be stored in a local hash tree by thereceiver. Subsequently, if the hash value H is also included in theauthentication path A(b) of a later received block, then it is notnecessary for the receiver to request H again. Instead, the receiver canuse the value of H stored in the local hash tree. Thus, using such alocal hash tree cache, all hash values in the authentication path of ablock need not be transmitted for each block. Instead, a subset of thehash values is sent, i.e., the integrity path, which contains only thosehash values that are not in the local hash tree cache.

An example of this integrity technique is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.To verify first block b(1), the receiver calculates its hash value H(1)and requests from the provider or server the integrity path for b(1).The integrity path in this case includes the hashes H(2)=H(3,2), H(2,2),and H(1,2). Using these values, the receiver can calculate the root hashvalue H(0,1) and compare it with the verified root hash value. Inparticular, as shown in FIG. 4, computed hash 414 of block 430 iscombined with received hash 416 to calculate hash 406 which is combinedwith received hash 408 to compute hash 402 which is combined withreceived hash 404 to obtain root hash 400. Assuming the integrity of theblock is verified, the receiver then stores these hash values in a localhash tree. These cached hash values can then be used to verify theintegrity of subsequent blocks. For example, to calculate the integrityof the next block b(2), no additional hash values are required since thelocal hash table already includes all hash values in the authenticationpath A(b(2)). In other words, the integrity path of block b(2) containsno hash values.

To verify the integrity of block b(2), the receiver calculates hash 416of block 432 and compares the result with the corresponding hash valuein the local hash tree. Note that hash values in the local hash tree areall verified, there is no need to repeat the computation of hash valuesat higher levels in the tree. Thus, not only is the bandwidth reducedfrom m hash values to zero, the computation is reduced from calculatingm+1 hash values to calculating just one.

FIG. 5 illustrates the verification of block b(3). In this case, theintegrity path includes just one hash value, H(4), and the verificationof block b(3) involves calculating the hash H(3) of block b(3) thencombining this result with the received hash value H(4) to obtaincalculated hash H(2,2). Since a verified value of H(2,2) is alreadypresent in the local hash tree, comparing this verified value with thehash calculated from b(3) is sufficient to verify the integrity of b(3).More specifically, to verify the integrity of received block 534, thereceiver calculates hash 518 and combines it with received hash 520 toobtain a computed hash which will be equal to verified hash 508 storedin local hash tree. The local hash tree in this case includes storedhash values 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, 514, and 516 obtained or calculatedwhen verifying previous blocks 530 and 532. In addition, if block 534 isverified, the local hash tree is updated to contain newly calculatedhash value 518 and newly obtained hash value 520 used for verifyingblock 534. Thus, in this case, the integrity path includes just one hashvalue and the verification requires the computation of just two hashes.

In general, the integrity path of a block b contains those hash valuesfrom authentication path A(b) that are not already stored in the localhash tree. It is not immediately obvious, however, exactly which hashvalues are contained in the integrity path of any given block. It can bedemonstrated, however, that the integrity path for a given block can bedetermined as follows. Consider the block's authentication path A(b)which contains m hash values, one from each level of the tree. If all mhash values are already contained in the local hash tree, then theintegrity path IP(b) for b is empty. If the hash at level j−1 iscontained in the local hash tree, but the hash at level j is not, thenthe integrity path IP(b) includes the hashes from levels j through m ofA(b). The number of hash values in IP(b) is denoted |IP(b)| and is equalto m−j+1 when j<m and 0 when j=m. Note that after correctly receiving ablock (not necessarily the first block of the file), the size of |IP(b)|is less than m for all subsequent blocks.

In practice, when a client receives block b from a server or a provider,if |IP(b)| is not zero, then it sends a request for IP(b) to the serveror the provider. The request, for example, may include a sequence numberfor block b together with the number |IP(b)|. The server or providerthen responds with the sequence of |IP(b)| hash values from A(b) thatstart from level m and go up the tree. In some cases, however, it maynot be necessary for the receiver to send an explicit request for IP(b).For example, if the receiver has sent to the provider an acknowledgementof an immediately previous block, the provider can infer the integritypath of the current block and send it automatically with the block data.The receiver then uses the hash values in IP(b) and the hash values inthe local hash tree to verify the integrity of block b. Assuming theblock b is verified, the hash values in IP(b) and any newly calculatedhash values are stored in the local hash tree. The updated hash treetherefore contains only verified hash values. It is initialized with thecertified root hash value and for each block the local hash tree isupdated with new hash values only when the block integrity is verified.Note that, since the local hash tree contains verified hash values, only|IP(b)|+1 hash values need to be computed in order to verify theintegrity of block b.

Proof-of-Service

In commercial implementations of peer-to-peer networks, it is valuableto provide mechanisms for proof-of-service so that peers can be givenincentives to share data and thereby reduce the demands on the server.Preferably, these incentives include one or more of the following:granting of credits to a peer that provides data to another peer, andgranting credits to a peer that obtains data from other peers ratherthan the server. The credits may include discounts, credits towardfuture purchases, cash rewards, coupons, or other valuableconsideration. A valuable proof-of-service technique should allow a peerto obtain a proof that can be verified by the server of its service toanother peer. This requires that the data integrity is not compromised,that the provider is not given credit for a service that was notprovided, and that a receiver acknowledges any service received. Apractical proof-of-service technique should also be scalable and notrequire excessive bandwidth or storage.

In a preferred embodiment of a proof-of-service technique, aninterlocking block-by-block verification mechanism is used betweenprovider and receiver. For each block b that a provider sends to areceiver, the receiver sends to the provider a non-reputableacknowledgment Ack b that is signed by the receiver. The providerverifies the acknowledgment (e.g., using the public key of the receiver)before providing the next block. The provider can then present theverified acknowledgments to the server as proof that the provider hasgiven service to the clients.

To ensure that the receiver cannot use a received block without sendingan acknowledgement to the provider, the provider first encrypts theblock using a block key and sends the encrypted block to the receiver.The provider only sends the block key to the receiver after receivingand verifying a block acknowledgement from the receiver. Preferably, theblock key itself is protected by encrypting it using R's public key sothat only R can decrypt and use the block key. The provider preferablysigns the block key together with a block identifier ID_(b), provideridentifier ID_(P), and receiver identifier ID_(R), so that the receivercan verify that the block key originated from the provider and correctlyassociate the block key with the correct block. The block key is thendecrypted by the receiver and used to decrypt the block. In a preferredembodiment, the block key is calculated by the provider using a one-wayhash function, g. The block key for block b sent from provider P toreceiver R may be written g(ID_(P),ID_(R),ID_(b),k), where k is a secretkey shared between the provider and the server. Note that the server canindependently use g to calculate the block key. Thus, in the event thatthe receiver does not receive the block key from the provider, thereceiver can request the block key from the server, e.g., by sending itssigned block acknowledgement to the server. A receiver may decide not torequest additional blocks from such a provider.

To ensure that the provider does not receive credit for delivering acorrupted block, the acknowledgement sent by the receiver to theprovider is constructed to depend on a hash of the encrypted block data.Thus, when the provider presents the acknowledgement to the server, theserver can determine whether or not the block data received by thereceiver was corrupted. In particular, the receiver can use a one-wayhash function d to calculate a digest of the encrypted block. Thisdigest can then be combined with the provider identifier ID_(P),receiver identifier ID_(R), and object identifier ID_(O) to form asingle data object that the receiver signs with its private key to formthe acknowledgement. Using the receiver's public key, theacknowledgement can be verified as originating from the receiver. Inparticular, the provider can verify the signature and also verify thatthe digest of the encrypted block is correct, confirming that thereceiver correctly received the encrypted block without corruption. Theprovider can then present the acknowledgement to the server, and theserver can similarly verify that the receiver correctly received theencrypted block from the provider. The acknowledgement may also includeadditional data such as a timestamp that records when theacknowledgement was issued by the receiver and a SACK field thatcontains a reference to multiple received blocks. The SACK field thusallows multiple blocks to be simultaneously acknowledged, e.g., using aformat similar to the SACK field used by TCP.

The use of a SACK field to allow cumulative acknowledgement eliminatesthe need for the provider to send acknowledgements for every block tothe server and for the server to separately verify the acknowledgementfor every block. Instead, the provider can present just oneacknowledgement, or just a few acknowledgements, for all the blocksacknowledged by the receiver. This dramatically reduces the bandwidthrequirements between provider and server as well as the computationalload on the server.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a technique for providing data integrity andproof of service according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.In step 710, receiver 704 sends provider 702 a copy of the signed ticketauthorizing the receiver to obtain data object O. The provider verifiesthe ticket in step 712 using the public key of the server. Assuming theticket is verified, provider 702 sends receiver 704 a signed root hashvalue H(0,1) for the data object O. Receiver 704 then verifies the roothash value and initializes its local hash tree for the data object O.Receiver 704 also initializes a block sequence number to a block ofobject O, e.g., the first block or a later block if previous blocks havepreviously been obtained.

In step 714, receiver 704 sends provider 702 a request for a block ofdata object O. The request may include, for example, the objectidentifier ID_(O), a block sequence number i corresponding to therequested block, and the integrity path request. In step 716, provider702 responds by encrypting block b(i) with a corresponding block key andsending the encrypted block to receiver 704. Provider 702 also sends theintegrity path hash values requested for the block.

In step 718, receiver 704 constructs an acknowledgement of receipt forthe encrypted block, signs it, and sends it to provider 702. In step720, provider 702 verifies the signature of the acknowledgement and alsochecks the digest in the acknowledgement to verify that the block wasnot corrupted. If verified, provider 702 sends the encrypted block keyto receiver 704. In step 722, receiver 704 decrypts the block key anduses it to decrypt the encrypted block. The receiver then calculates thehash value for the block and uses it, together with the local hash treeand the received integrity path hash values for the block, to verify theintegrity of the block. If the block integrity is verified, receiver 704then updates the local hash tree with new hash values. If the blockintegrity is not verified, receiver 704 may elect not to request anymore blocks from provider 702 and may request blocks from other peers orfrom the server. If the last block of object O has been received, orreceiver 704 does not desire any more blocks from provider 702, then thesession is terminated. Otherwise, the receiver increments the blocksequence number and repeats steps 714 through 722 for another block.

After provider 702 has shared all or part of data object O, provider 702can then forward to the server one or more acknowledgements fromreceiver 704. The server can then verify the acknowledgement to confirmthat receiver 704 obtained a particular set of blocks of data objectfrom provider 702, and that the last block was not corrupted. (Priorblocks are assumed to be uncorrupted since the receiver continuedrequesting subsequent blocks from the provider.) The server can thencredit provider appropriately for sharing the blocks. If the server'sverification of the acknowledgement fails, then the provider is notgiven credit for sharing the blocks. In an alternate embodiment, theacknowledgement sent from the receiver includes digests of several priorblocks in addition to the digest of the most recent block it receivedfrom the provider. The server can then verify the integrity of multiplerecently shared blocks, and not just the integrity of the most recentblock. The advantage of including multiple digests in theacknowledgement is that receiver 704 need not wait for the block key,decrypt the block, and verify the block integrity before requesting andsending an acknowledgement for a subsequent block. The steps 720 and 722of FIG. 7B, in other words, can be performed in parallel for one blockwhile the loop continues to steps 714, 716, and 718 for the next block.The number of prior block digests included in the acknowledgement for agiven block is preferably greater than or equal to the number ofsubsequent blocks that the receiver acknowledges before the integrity ofthe block is verified. Otherwise, the receiver risks sending anacknowledgement that does not contain a digest of an acknowledged blockthat is corrupted, giving the provider an incorrect proof of service. Inthis embodiment, the server verifies all the digests included in theacknowledgement before giving credit to the provider. The number ofdigests included in the acknowledgement is selected such that it issmall enough to be scalable, but large enough to maintain a high levelof parallelism. In any case, as with the other embodiments ofproof-of-service, a provider can wait until the end of serving areceiver to present a single proof of its service toward the receiver.Thus, the demand on the server by providers is small. In addition, thereis also a small load on the server from receivers, e.g., from requeststo verify or retrieve the block key of a block it receives from aprovider, which happens rarely since normally the receiver will obtainthe correct block key from the provider.

The security features discussed above (i.e., authentication,confidentiality, integrity, and proof-of-service) can be implemented ina variety of combinations. In some applications of peer-to-peernetworks, authentication alone is sufficient, e.g., in cases where fileaccess is restricted to peers who have been granted permission by theserver and these peers are enclosed in a protected environment such as asecure subnet. Other applications will find it useful to implementauthentication in combination with confidentiality, e.g., when it isnecessary to counter the eavesdropping threat in an open environment. Inother applications, it may be useful to implement data integrity alone,e.g., in the case of a network used to freely distribute large publicfiles whose integrity must be assured. Integrity may also be implementedin combination with authentication, e.g. when the server also needs tolog who accessed a file. Integrity may be implemented in combinationwith both authentication and confidentiality when file access isrestricted to certain peers and they must secretly obtain files withfull data integrity, e.g., when the video of enemy movement in a battleneeds to be accurately and secretly distributed to all soldiers butnobody else. Integrity may also be implemented in combination withauthentication and proof-of-service, e.g., when a small entertainmentbusiness is selling a large volume of audio and/or video files to itscustomers and it wants to encourage and credit those customers who helpdistribute the files in order to reduce the server's bandwidth expenses.Note that, since proof-of-service already contains its own block-levelencryption, additional confidentiality functionality is not necessary inapplications that use proof-of-service. Most commercial applicationslikely will implement the integrity, authentication, andproof-of-service security features together because of the advantagesthat the combination provides.

The techniques of the present invention are secure against attempts byindividual peers to circumvent authenticity, confidentiality, dataintegrity, and proof-of-service. Authenticity and confidentiality areensured by the use of conventional cryptographic techniques. Integrityof an object is guaranteed by the certified root value of the hash treewhich any user can verify. If any block of the object is modified, theintegrity verification process for the block will fail. An individualreceiver cannot circumvent proof-of-service because only after theprovider receives and verifies an acknowledgement from the receiver doesthe provider send the receiver the block key needed to decrypt the block(preventing the receiver from sending an invalid acknowledgement or noacknowledgement at all). An individual provider cannot circumvent theproof-of-service scheme because valid acknowledgements are signed by thereceiver using the receiver's private key (preventing the provider fromconstructing a forged acknowledgement), because valid acknowledgementscontain digests of the delivered blocks (preventing the provider fromsending corrupt or incomplete data), because the server can provide thereceiver with block keys (preventing the provider from withholding ablock key) and because every acknowledgement contains areceiver-specific signature and the IDs of both the actual provider andreceiver involved (preventing a provider from getting credit for serviceto itself, for service actually provided by another provider, or forservice actually provided to another receiver).

In principle, since the server does not directly monitor datatransmission between peers, multiple peers could collude to forge proofsof service when no data transmission occurred. For example, a peer whoalready has a file could construct a false acknowledgement allegedlyacknowledging receipt of the file by an accomplice and then get theaccomplice to sign it. If no accomplice is available or agreeable, thepeer could potentially create multiple identities and thus createvirtual accomplices. Peers could also collude by sharing private keys,which would allow peers to sign false acknowledgements from each other.To address this form of collusion, the following economicalcountermeasure can be used: when the server receives a proof of servicefrom a provider to a receiver, before crediting the provider, the serverwill make sure it charges the receiver for the service. In addition, theserver can limit the number of credits it grants for a given blockdelivered to a given receiver. For example, the server could grant nomore than three credits for serving a block to a receiver. This allowssome legitimate service redundancy while limiting the potential forabuse.

Implementations of the invention may use any of various types ofcomputers, operating systems, storage devices, network connections, andunderlying networking protocols. Implementations of the invention mayalso employ various standard cryptographic and security techniques knownin the art. For example, implementations may use 3DES (112-bit keylength) or AES for classical cryptography, RSA (1024-bit key length) forpublic key cryptography, and MD5 or SHA-1 for hashing algorithms.

1. A method implemented at a receiver peer device in a peer-to-peernetwork comprising the receiver peer device, a server, and multipleprovider peer devices, the method comprising: a) sending by the receiverpeer device to the server a request for an authorization to obtain adata object O, wherein the request identifies the data object O; b)receiving by the receiver peer device from the server in response to therequest a ticket comprising an authorization by the server for thereceiver peer device to obtain the data object O from any one of themultiple provider peer devices, wherein the ticket is digitally signedby the server and comprises a receiver identifier associated with thereceiver peer device and an object identifier associated with the dataobject O; c) sending by the receiver peer device the ticket to aprovider peer device, whereby the provider peer device may verify thatthe receiver is authorized to receive the data object O; d) sending bythe receiver peer device to the provider peer device a request for ablock of the data object O, wherein the request comprises a blocksequence number corresponding to the block, wherein the requested blockis a portion of the data object O not yet received by the receiver peerfrom any of the multiple provider peer devices; e) receiving by thereceiver peer device from the provider peer device the block of the dataobject O, wherein the block is encrypted by the provider peer deviceusing a block key uniquely associated with the block; f) sending by thereceiver peer device to the provider peer device an acknowledgement ofreceipt of the block, wherein the acknowledgement is digitally signed bythe receiver peer device and comprises a digest of the block and aprovider identifier; g) receiving by the receiver peer device from theprovider peer device, in response to the acknowledgement, the block keyused by the provider peer device to encrypt the block, wherein the blockkey is digitally signed by the provider peer device to produce a digitalsignature of the block key; h) verifying by the receiver peer device thedigital signature of the block key, whereby the receiver peer device mayverify that the block key originated from the provider peer device; i) adecrypting by the receiver peer device the block using the block keyreceived from the provider peer device; and j) verifying by the receiverpeer device an integrity of the block of the data object O, andrecording by the receiver peer device that the block was received. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein the acknowledgement further comprises areceiver identifier, and an object identifier.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein the acknowledgement further comprises a reference to multiplereceived blocks.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the acknowledgementfurther comprises digests of multiple received blocks.
 5. A methodimplemented at a provider peer device in a peer-to-peer networkcomprising a receiver peer device and multiple provider peer devices,wherein the multiple provider peer devices comprise the provider peerdevice, the method comprising: a) receiving by the provider peer devicefrom a receiver peer device a ticket comprising an authorization by theserver for the receiver peer device to obtain a data object O from anyone of the multiple provider peer devices; wherein the ticket isdigitally signed by the server and comprises a receiver identifierassociated with the receiver peer device and an object identifierassociated with the data object O; b) verifying by the provider peerdevice a digital signature of the ticket, whereby the provider peerdevice may verify that the ticket originated from the server; c)receiving by the provider peer device from the receiver peer device arequest for a block of the data object O, wherein the request comprisesa block sequence number corresponding to the block; d) sending by theprovider peer device to the receiver peer device the block of the dataobject O, wherein the block is encrypted by the provider peer deviceusing a block key uniquely associated with the block; e) receiving bythe provider peer device from the receiver peer device anacknowledgement of receipt of the block, wherein the acknowledgement isdigitally signed by the receiver peer device to produce a digitalsignature, wherein the acknowledgement comprises a digest of the blockand a provider identifier; f) verifying by the provider peer device thedigital signature, whereby the provider peer device may verify that theacknowledgement originated from the receiver peer device; g) verifyingby the provider peer device the digest, whereby the provider peer mayverify that the block of the data object O was correctly received by thereceiver peer device; h) sending by the provider peer device to thereceiver peer device, in response to the acknowledgement, the block key,wherein the block key is digitally signed by the provider peer device;and i) sending by the provider peer device to a server theacknowledgement, whereby the server may give credit to the provider peerdevice for providing the block to the receiver peer device.
 6. Themethod of claim 5 wherein the acknowledgement further comprises areceiver identifier, and an object identifier.
 7. The method of claim 5wherein the acknowledgement further comprises a reference to multiplereceived blocks.
 8. The method of claim 5 wherein the acknowledgementfurther comprises digests of multiple received blocks.
 9. A methodimplemented at a server in a peer-to-peer network comprising the server,a receiver peer device, and multiple provider peer devices comprising aprovider peer device, the method comprising: a) receiving by the serverfrom the receiver peer device a request for authorization to obtain adata object O; b) generating by the server a ticket authorizing thereceiver peer device to obtain the data object O from any one of themultiple provider peer devices, wherein the ticket comprises a receiveridentifier associated with the receiver peer device and an objectidentifier associated with the data object O, c) digitally signing bythe server the ticket; d) sending by the server the ticket to thereceiver peer device, whereby the receiver peer device may use theticket to obtain the data object O from the provider peer device byproviding the ticket to the provider peer device; e) if the serverreceives a request from the receiver peer device for a block key for ablock of the data object O, calculating by the server the block key andsending by the server the block key to the receiver peer device; f)receiving by the server from the provider peer device a copy of anacknowledgement sent from the receiver peer device to the provider peerdevice acknowledging receipt by the receiver peer device of a portion ofthe data object O transmitted by the provider peer device, wherein theacknowledgement is digitally signed by the receiver peer device toproduce a digital signature of the acknowledgement, wherein theacknowledgement comprises a provider identifier and a digest of at leastone block of the data object O that was transmitted from the providerpeer device to the receiver peer device; g) verifying by the server thedigital signature of the acknowledgement, whereby the server may verifythat the acknowledgement originated from the receiver, h) verifying bythe server the digest, whereby the server may verify that the at leastone block of the data object O was correctly received by the receiverpeer device; i) giving by the server credit to the provider peer deviceusing the acknowledgement as proof-of-service if the digital signatureof the acknowledgement is verified and the digest contained in theacknowledgement is verified.
 10. The method of claim 9 furthercomprising: receiving by the server from the receiver peer device arequest for a block key corresponding to a block of the data object Osent from the provider peer device to the receiver peer device;calculating by the server the block key based upon a provideridentifier, a receiver identifier, a block identifier, and a secretshared between the provider peer device and the server; and sending bythe server to the receiver peer device the block key.
 11. The method ofclaim 9 wherein the acknowledgement further comprises a receiveridentifier and an object identifier.
 12. The method of claim 9 whereinthe acknowledgement comprises multiple digests.
 13. The method of claim9 wherein the acknowledgement further comprises a reference to multiplereceived blocks.